This week is about feeling the sounds that you hear. The albums this week are big, wide, chunky, pulsating — you feel them in your body as you listen. Each one is cool, but not trendy. Imagine your weird, interesting uncle pulling these records off his shelf just to tell you he saw this band or that band live in Morocco in the seventies. It’s elevator music, it’s steel guitar country, it’s R&B, it’s bossa nova, it’s psych-jazz. But, best of all, none of these albums are just one thing. We begin with a re-issue from Rob, a Ghanian musician from the 70s, and his slight off-key, strange afro-funk album. The songs are broody, but easy listening in their own way. Charlotte Dos Santos takes on the funk-jazz-R&B trifecta with her recent album, a tour de force full of unique sounds and widespread, wholehearted crescendos. I come back to Cha Chas all the time, because it’s just a perfect album for dinner parties. Hugo Montenegro is the epitome of Dinner Music, as you can see from one of the early posts here. It’s the kind of album I imagine my grandmother dancing too in the fifties with a big glass of wine in her hand and a smile on her face. In the sixties, Lee Hazlewood got sick of America and wandered over to Europe for a few years. What he’s left us with is Cowboy in Sweden, a wild, weird, psychedelic album and short film. Lastly, if you listen to one album this week, make it Slight Variations. Slinky grooves, trendy undertones, disco pulses weave through this album to create something smooth and sexy. Great for dancing in your kitchen.
Enjoy.
The playlist is here.
Monday
Make It Fast, Make It Slow - Rob (1978)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Tuesday
Morfo - Charlotte Dos Santos (2022)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Wednesday
Cha Chas for Dancing - Hugo Montenegro (1960)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Thursday
Cowboy in Sweden - Lee Hazlewood (1970)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Friday
Slight Variations - Fujiya & Miyagi
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Pair with:
Chinese Cold Noodle Salad with Sesame Dressing. Early summer dinner plans? I’ve been coming around to a cold noodle situation, but it’s easy and tasty, so what else does a girl need?
5-ingredient app. Heirloom tomato, prosciutto, greens, burrata and dijon vinaigrette. She’s chic, she’s tasty, she’s an easy lil snack.
Coconut pineapple marg. I think this summer is going to be tiki drinks season. I can’t explain it, I just have a feeling. This can easily just be a mock-tail, too, for those who prefer.
Glass bubble cup. It’s one of my favorite times of the year: the SSENSE semi-annual sale. These little cups are unreal and so damn cute. Maybe good for the aforementioned marg?
Nice things to look at:
All photos via Loq
Thank you, thank you. Have a great week.